Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1887-01-07

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| After the world has progressed in study hun
dreds OF years 1t may get up to the point
| where the ancients began to forget. believe
| that the lost arts may be as great as the liv-
! ing arts. How was it with those alchemistsl
| Why, they spent their lives in the study of
| metals and gases and solids and liquids. and
| they filed whole libraries with their discov-
| cries. They understood embalmment as no
men in our time understand embalmment.
| And they were very wise men. They were
not only among wise men, but they were the
three wisest men. Caspar, young man;
Balthazar, a man OF middle age, and
Melchior, an octogenarian. The three
wisest men of all the century at
the feet Cf Christ So it Is now. The
brainiest men of this century are Christians.
Who was the gTsgeest metaphysician OF
Americag Jonathan = 2 wards, the Christian.
Who was the greatest Astronomer of the
worldl Herschel, the Christian. Who was
the greatest poet the world has ever scent
John Milton, the Christian. Who wrote the
mlgnuest treatlses on law that have ever
been written2 Blackstone the Christian. Why
is it that in every college and university
they have a chapeli 1t is the place
! where the wise men bow at the
settled in ounces and in inches. People say
that the men who believe in Christianity are
small-bTained men. Let us find the largest
brain ever known in America. By post NOR
tenn examination distinguished men have
been measured and their intellectual capacity
has been calculated, and the size of the brain
has been found out. Let us find the largest
brain ever known in America, and
find out then what that brain
thought of Christ. We have found
it. 1t is the brain weighing some sixty
three ounces. What did that man in his
lifetime think of Christi In his dying mo-
ment he said: Lord, believe; help Thou
11nh Ipoioy cd xub I
do, accept me at the last for Christ's sake.
This night shall be in joy unutterable." So
Daniel Webster bowed at the mauger. So
the mighty men of the East are followed by
the mighty men of the West.
My subject also impresses me with the fact
that it was the winter season that God as
signed for the nativity of His Son. Had it
been the month of May, that is the season Of
blossoms; had it been the month of June,
chat is the season of roses; hau 1t been the
month of July, that is the season of great
harvests: had it been the month of Sc tenn
Der, that is the seasoned Of ripened orchards;
had it been the month of October, that is
| the season of upholsterel forests; but it was
| December, when all the flowers outdoors are
dead and all the crops that have not been
gathered are perished, and there are no
ripening fruits ON the hill, and the leaves
are driven over the bare earth. In the
closing days of December, to show that this
Christ is for people in sharp blasts, for peo-
pie of frosted hopes, for people under dark
skies, for people with the thermometer be-
lew zero, for people showed under. Christ
heard in His memory the wind whistling
around the Bethlehem caravansary, and He
is in sympathy with those who in their pow
erty hear the shutters clatter on a cold night.
That was the Christ Washington and his
army worshipred when they lay down without
blankets in the December snow. That was the
| Christ that the Pilgrim Fathers appealed to
| when the WdWtolUer wharfed at plymouth
| Rock, and for years after that December
| landing the graves digged were more in num-
| Der than the houses built. Not q fair weather
| Christ, but December Christ. Oh, the
| world wants to be solaced and saothed and
lullabied in the arms OK sympathetic omnip-
| otence and no mother ever with more ten
| derness put her foot on the rocker of cradle
| to hush a sick child than the tenderness of
this Christ comes to our invalid world, and
He rocks it into placidity and quiet with the
words: 'My peace l give unto you; not as
the world giveth, give l unto you" Oh, ye
burden bearers, oh, We prosecuted and tired
and heartbroken, / declare to you Decem-
Der Christ.
But here is fact which many seem to for
get, perhaps all forget-my subject im-
presses me with the fact that Christ was
born amid the sheep, and the CATTLE and the
| horses, and the camels that He might be the
alleviation Of the whole brute creation.
Mercy for overdriven, underfed, poorly shell
| tered, outraged brute creation, DO you think
that the Christ who compared Himself to
a dove has no indignation at the crueltieS Of
pigeon shooting' Do you think that the
Christ who compared Himself to lamb has
no indignation at the rough tying and the
contortion of the sheep and the hanging of
Chelr neck over the sharp edgeo OF tin @ butchers
| cart, and the cattle train from Omaha to
| New York, with no water in summer time
j, 800 miles of agOny2 Do you think that
the Christ who said: ''Go to the anti does
not notice the transfixed insects? Do you
think that the Christ whose tax was paid by
the fish does not notice the tossing of fin in
| tho fish market? Do you think that the
Christ who said: "Behold the fowls Of the
air" hath no sympathy with the brute crea-
ton that cannot articulate its grieff Christ,
born in stable that He might be the Sa-
viour, not only of the human race but the
alienation of all the pangs and hardships
| of the brute creation.
In the millenial tine child is to lead a
lion and to play with a cocatrice only be-
cause brute and reptile will have no more
outrages to avenge. The Lamb of God gave
it's first bleat-amd the tired flocks of Beth
lehem. The white horse of eternal victory
stabbed in barn. Whom you tread on the
brute creation you tread on God. Christ
born amid the beasts that He might sympa-
thize with the beasts, and helpthe beasts, and
thunder His Indignation and His wrath
against men who abuse the beasts.
notice also, in this wonderful story Of the
text three Christmas presents brought to
Christ. Just three. Gold, myrrh, franklin
cense. Gold brought to Christ. What does
that mean? 1t means the afluence of the
world is going to be surrendered to Jesus.
For lack OF money no more 'asylums limping
on their way like the invalids they support,
or feeling their slow way like the blind whom
they shelter. Millions of dollars for Christ
there are now thousands of dollars. Rail-
road companies owned by Christian stock
holders and controlled by Christian direc-
tors and carrying freights and passengers at
Christian prices. Bank of England, Bourse
Of France and U. S. Treasury all the worlds
moneyed institutions for Christ The gold
for Christ No other meaning to it. The
gold no more paid the way for
Mary and Joseph and the divine
refugee in Egypt than the gold shall pay the
way for Christ all round the world. The
gold for Christ, the silver for Christ, the
tiful world like a solitaire set on the bosom
of Christ All His and He is worthy.
But the second Christmas present was
the myrrh. Why the myrrhl The cattle
snuffed it, but did not eat it 1t
was too bitter. Why the myrrhl Why this
pungent gum resin Of Abysinnia brought fol
Christi 1t meant bitterness. Bitterness OF
betrayal, bitterness of persecution, bitterness
of days of suffering and nights Of anguish.
Myrrh That is what they put into His cup
when He was dying. Myrrh. That is what
the women wrapped in the shroud of the cru.
CITED Christ. Myrrh. Aye, says the psalmist
"all thy garments smell of myrrh." Oh the
height6, the depth, the length, the breadth
of a Saviour's sorrow. No wonder the wise
men brought myrrh. But there was one
other thing they brought. They shook out
from the sack the frankincense Clear up tc
the rafters of the barn the perfume rose and
1t floated out to the furthest room, where
the hostler and the camel drivers wer,
| placed and il hoated out into the oneI